Dusic

Rico Henry on the bench for Brentford in their playoff 1st leg vs Bmth. Not sure if he has been injured lately but he has started most of their games this season. Edit: just back from injury.

The worrying element is that Da Grosa did seemingly enter a period of exclusivity. You would hope jokers like that get binned off before they even start talks. Just shows Gao will sell to anyone who can raise the cash, no matter who they are, whats their plans are and whose money they use. Unfortunately the biggest liklihood is that we end up with a wally frontman of DaGrosa's ilk who fancies some limelight, backed by invisible, emotionless investors of the minimum amount of money needed to keep us ticking along or who need financial returns within a couple of years.

I think we should be looking at extending his contract by a year this summer or early into next season. He has 3 years left and as a selling club the optimal time to do that would be with two years remaining (as a minimum) to get a good fee, so keeping good players on long contracts is clearly good business.

Feels like this is becoming a bit ofan issue for us in that the best one by a distance is Armstrong but he may also be deployed as a #6 sometimes which takes away our only real goalthreat from open play aside from the strikers. Of the others Redmond, Djenepo and Walcott (assuming he signs) are very inconsistent and don't contribute enough in terms of goals and assists. Tella seems much better as a striker than when played deeper as he can use his pace better and probably isnt technical enough retaining possession. We brought Minamino in because we had Walcott injured and it seemed a no brainer of a poan but surely we wouldn't sign a 5th #10 (6th if Tella included) on a permanent deal. So - excluding a Minamino replacement, we essentially Armstrong on the right when fit and then whichever of Redmond, Djenepo and Walcott happens to be in form. I guess that is ok...but definitely an area that could be improved. In a way its what makes the permanent signing of Walcott a tough one as in a sense it makes sense and is low risk, but really if we were serious we would be signing a starting XI player instead.

Excellent again today. Improving all the time. Great to see as he seems like an honest, hardworking pro.

Loftus-Cheek feels like a player who need a permanent move, not another loan. That said, Ralph mentioned him in the press conference in the context of him being a good player that we were interested in but with too high wages, so I don't see that we are likely to be signing him. Profile wise I think he would make a good #10 on the right, in a similar style to what Armstrong does, but he probably sees himself as a central player.

He has made two sub apps: 5mins vs Shrewsbury 1min vs Aston Villa

Seems a clear cut situation to me. - Manager has a talented rookie who he thinks has potential but is a way off being near the level of the existing first team players - Jankewitz, despite never really putting together a consistent run of top performances in the U23s thinks he deserves some first team minutes, isn't getting any. Has interest from a mid level Eredivisie team (was it Groningen?) and gets a bit sulky. - Relationship with club and Manager goes south to the extend of submitting a written transfer request which is rejected. - In the midst of a massive injury crisis, Jankewitz gets a chance largely as the only remaining option and spectacularly fucks it up, leading to a huge and embarassing defeat for the Manager, tarnishing his reputation with Saints fans and the wider audience. - Player who wasn't really trusted by the Manager before this, and had been pushing hard to leave, has not been given another minute on the pitch, plus shortly after the injured players returned. - Manager then says, quite rightly, that the next time the player gets a chance he needs to take it but that he isnt on the same level as those playing. - At the same time and in the context of Crocker's recent comments about the attitude of some players in the Academy, this sends the message that the club decides when and how you progress, not any single player. Likely outcome: Player leaves this summer as he only has a year left anyway and it doesnt seem to be a happy situation, both before the Utd game and even worse afterwards.

He looks great at the defensive aspects but is much more like Bednarek on the ball - i.e can pass ok with his strong foot, looks very dodgy on his weaker foot and isn't going to be orchestrating too many attacks from the back, certainly neither of them are anywhere near Vestergaard in terms of ability on the ball. A pairing of Bednarek and Salisu would attract a lot of opposition pressing I think. Surely will be a starter next season, and for that reason I would expect us to take the cash for Vestergaard and sign a backup type CB in his place.

I think he was hinting at no extension but also no sale.

One major plus point with Adams - as noted by Ralph this week is his availability and robustness. An underrated attribute for any player, but loved by Managers. For what we paid he has done well, especially this season. He has improved and shown signs he will continue to do so. Certainly a big improvement on Long and Austin in terms of goal involvement and availability.

Obviously we need depth in some areas, that is absolutely critical - but you could also make a compelling argument that to really improve we need a couple of starting players as well. Its quite conceivable that in the first game of next season the only new signing in the team could be at LB, where we will do well to find a player as good as a fit and fresh Bertrand. If as seems likely we are after a LB, LB/RB cover, CM or AM cover and a young striker - its hard to see any of those making a real impact initially aside from the LB who will need to be capable of playing in the PL from day one. With our constraints the above scenario is realistic, and if those players are good will certainly help, but its not really going to be transformative compared to say what Villa did by signing Watkins, Cash, Barkley (initially anyway) and Martinez which really improved the spine of their team and provided instant results. Not a criticism of Saints at all, just something to be wary/realistic about.

Probably the right timing for both. Unquestionably one of our best ever signings and something of a symbol of what Saints represented during that spell under Koeman.

The most difficult part is that likely Ralph and the club won't know what is going to truely happen until near the end of the window, unless a big team moves for Ings early on. Clearly he would need a good replacement but if he only leaves in August then our targets will probably have gone and it will massively disrupt our start to the season. He is probably unlikely to be involved in the Euros which might benefit in that a team can move earlier for him if they want to. Ultimately everyone will hope he stays and for that reason the club will probably not give him a deadline to sign or be sold...I think it will rumble on for a while yet.

Seeing how takeovers of Sheff Wed, Derby and Birmingham have gone it really does show that there aren't many deals which go spectacularly well. We got so lucky with ML, less so with Gao but I would suggest the latter is the norm and the former the exception. Once something does happen at Saints I will remain very sceptical.

Based on everything Ralph, Semmens and Crocker have said, and experience in recent times, it is very unlikely we are going to be signing anyone for a fee from another PL side, relegated or not. Besides, Mitrovic and pressing goes together like Shane Long and composure.

Is it just related to the pandemic, or can footy questions be asked too?

On a free transfer, 2 year deal, with obviously wages the club are comfortable with and an ability to play up front or as a no10 its a low risk deal.

Performance was good. Tactical approach was good. Effort and commitment was good. Only things that can be faulted are defending for the first goal and lack of clinical final ball/finishing. Unfortunately those are the difference makers.

U18s back from 3-1 down to win 6-4. Kami Doyle scoring twice to get Saints back in the game.

Given how firm Crocker was on the underachievement within the Academy both results wise and structurally it does make you wonder about Matt Hale's future at the club, given he is the Academy Manager and the standards seem to have slipped during his reign.

Also Ralph strong on Valery and Vokins - saying they have made no impact in the Championship or L1 so basically going to be extremely difficult for them to have a place at Saints next season. Overall between Ralph, Semmens and Crocker I really feel they get it and have a lot of trust in them to do the most they can within the obvious limits we have - which they seem to enjoy the challenge of.

I thought Crocker was very good on the Academy performance and was very clear that its not been run well and the players are largely not good enough, which is proven by the dreadful results and lack of anyone coming through of late. Will take time to resolve but he spoke about some of what is already planned and it didnt need much reading between the lines to know its had a big shake up with more to follow. Scouting and recruitment - being revamped Coaching - being revamped Attitudes and desire - needs to change. He made no excuses. Good to hear.

In many ways the best performance of rhe season given some of the questions asked about this team. Things I learned: - Salisu should start every game until the end of the season - Stephens isn't the best player but he talks a lot and we don't have many like that - Adams and Redmond put in a massive shift in the thankless task at the top of the pitch. - It only takes 3mins to raise an Ofcom complaint about Martin Tyler's comment about Che Adams...

Interesting in the sense that I am fairly sure Wallace was the journalist who wrote the briefed story about Ings wanting to play CL football and not wanting to sign a new contract until he had assessed his options. Clearly he doesn't want any suitors to be put off by suggestions this injury is any more than a minor one. Would suggest Wallace is the one to watch re Ings stories in the coming months.